Les1952 Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 (edited) Even more pics... Plus a development or two.. Another one from Manchester. Looking outwards towards the back of the wagon workshops. Mr Gardner is still digging. The second HO loco- this one isn't actually for No Place. An elderly (sold new in 1993 according to the receipt in the box) Liliput Baden VIc 2-6-2T. I had one of these when modelling in HO in the eighties before Mr Simon was born and it was one I regretted selling. It will spend time in the showcase. It isn't DCC friendly- an eighties design before DCC was really thought of. However, opening it up the brushes are on the back of the motor and are isolated from the frame. The power is fed to the brushes by two big brass sprung clips. Wrapping insulting tape around the top of these isolated the brushes. There was also a supressor soldered across between the bushes. Cutting this off left two tags to solder the w grey and orange wires to, while the black and red were soldered to the bases of the brass sprung clips. Result- worked first time and runs quite smoothly considering its age. Resale value is now more than the cost of buying it and chipping it, so I'm well pleased. Meanwhile I've been working on a more satisfactory coupling system. Pics to follow... Les Edited May 27, 2018 by Les1952 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted June 3, 2018 Author Share Posted June 3, 2018 (edited) Oh yes, the couplings... I've been playing with Kadees and will probably make the change as using number 18s seems to allow propelling through all permutations of pointwork and most locos have nem pockets to take these. It will mean a cull of some of the older-chassised hoppers, but that in itself isn't a bad thing. I've some hopper bodies still to build and these can go on newer chassis. The two ex-NER wooden 20 ton hoppers I haven't got round to finishing will take number 5 couplers, as will the locos that don't have nem pockets, particularly the Hornby WDs. The coach will take a no.5 also. Showing that the uncoupler magnet does actually uncouple when wagons are propelled over it. The Sentinel has No.17 couplers in its nem pockets and behaves itself- this also shows jut how small the Fleischmann 0-4-0 well tank is.... The third HO loco has arrived- a Feldschlossen 0-6-0 well tank, another one I remember from the seventies/eighties. Another doddle to chip and a beautiful runner on DCC despite its age. This one will also grace the showcase- no nem pockets means it can't be fitted with kadees. Andrea from Dapol rang on Friday morning to confirm my B4 as fairly imminent. Hopefully this will appear before the annual holidays.... Meanwhile time to strip the shed and both layouts within of locos for security. Les Edited June 3, 2018 by Les1952 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 (edited) The B4 has arrived Pics next post. Les Edited June 5, 2018 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 Ok- a browser issue in that using RMWeb in Chrome suddenly seems to have stopped previweing fonts and the bar at the top of the Reply window has become greyed out. I've switched over to the Edge, which I ordinarily dislike intensely as it thinks it knows more about how I want to lay things out than I do. Artificial Unintelligence...... Three pics of the B4, straight out of the box. It arrived this morning and missed being taken to the club for running in. However I've checked it over and changed its address to 91 ready for when I get back off holiday. Nice looking beast, a big bruiser for an 0-4-0, and with plenty of weight and a longish wheelbase it should be up to shunting the colliery, though I'll have to wait until September before I really know. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 Not a lot happening as the layout is on the workbench at the moment. In between spasms on Croft Spa (ie in the intervals when glue or paint is drying) I'm working on changing the couplings over to Kadees. Pecket 66 and another pair of hoppers fitted with #18 or #19s and waiting adjustment to their droppers. The stock awaiting to be fitted to locos and wagons. The next step is to do a couple of #5 couplers onto older locos etc, to see how easy it will be. The layout will be erected when I get back from Weston Super Mare to allow the duff point at the front to be changed over and the magnets to be set in correctly. I might get another operator trained while it is up. Then it is off to Wooodthorpe for a one day show. Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 Time for an update or two. The layout is currently erected while I change the coupling system for Kadees before its outing a week on Saturday to Woodthorpe show in Nottingham. I've been away for three days this week (Superlambanana spotting and queueing round the Terracotta Army exhibition...). Just as I finally just about finish a Slater's 20-ton Hopper wagon they go and reintroduce it. Never mind, that is a couple of Christmas presents taken care of... This one has lost a pair of buffers in the twenty years it has been sitting unfinished in a box. However it will be running at Woodthorpe as I need a bit of variety. More regular are the Hornby and Dapol hoppers, together with the rebuilt box hopper I made on a Dapol chassis. There are two more of these to do and I'll use similar chassis as the r-t-r manufacturers can get a chassis square better than I can..... I put Kadees on the two small steam locos I got to play with while deciding if Furtwangen 2 should be HO sound or back to N-gauge. I still haven't made up my mind on this one. They may make odd appearances on the preserved line, and the Glaskastern will actually run smoothly and successfully shunt the screens. War reparations is definitely stretching credulity a little.. Backworth Austerity No.4 is now in service, but like a lot of locos doesn't like the fulls road to the screens. However the 03 and 08 are both running well, and a few distinct oddities will also shunt very well, such as the Dapol B4. Everything loco-wise fitted with an NEM coupler box is now Kadee fitted, as are a lot of the wagons. Just a few needing number 18s (that I've run out of again) or number 5s (that involve a bit of surgery to get working) left to do. I'll have most of these done before Mansfield in march. The problem children are the Hornby J94s. I'll have to get advice on these as the chassis end is distinctly too low to fit a No.5 to. I've taken some close ups of some of the wildlife but will post them later. Meanwhile endless testing of couplings- I'm getting a lot better at shunting.... Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Corbs Posted October 18, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 18, 2018 I ended up carving a slot into the metal chassis of my Hornby austerity in order to take one of the kadees with a hole in (screwed and glued in), it’s supported by styrene strip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted October 18, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 18, 2018 Looking forward to seeing the layout at Mansfield 2019 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 Looking forward to seeing the layout at Mansfield 2019 I might have got the couplings almost 100% reliable by then...…. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 I ended up carving a slot into the metal chassis of my Hornby austerity in order to take one of the kadees with a hole in (screwed and glued in), it’s supported by styrene strip. Many thanks for that. I've found that screwing a number 17 coupler direct to the chassis where the original was screwed in seems to work. Because the coupler head doesn't drift off to one side it also seems a bit more reliable than NEM pockets. I'll take some pics over the weekend. All the best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 As promised, some pics of the minibeasts. One of the grass snakes hedgehog butterfly Royal corgi. Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 NO PLACE is now back on the bench at home following a successful Woodthorpe show. Best comment was from a bloke who grew up just the other side of Stanley who thought I'd captured the area. One tries... The layout is currently facing the wrong way on the bench. Shed point 3's lever came adrift during the show and we needed to push and pull the wire beyond the lever. On return I enlarged the access hole in the backscene (this one is under the veggie patch) and added nother screw to hold the lever down. Problem fixed. I now need to work out a permanent solution to the non-working shed point 1. Some pics - there will be a couple more batches before I'm done boring everyone.... These were all taken using the hall and layout lights only using my mobile phone. The Class 03 (now with Kadees) shunts the screens. This one and the Class 05 shared the bulk of the screen shunting, though the Class 08, the class 14, the LSWR B4, USATC No.36 and the red Hornby WD all had a turn at different times. The little HO Fleischmann well tank had a turn on the passenger late on in the afternoon. Its sound attracted a couple of comments about miniaturisation. It looks a bit small compared to the USATC. There were odd small continental well tanks in industry in the UK, so it may become a permanent addition to the roster even if Furtwangen II ends up being N-gauge. I'm still not totally committed to that one being HO. The enlarged hole in the backscene is still only about two-thirds of the height of the wall in front of it and is somewhere behind the darker green bushes at the wall bottom.. The monk with the full bladder still hasn't found his way to the WC. Enough for now. Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 (edited) Some more pics from Woodthorpe The yellow peril arrives on a passenger while the B4 and the Sentinel steamer stand in the lay by siding. Note the extra foliage that has appeared in the yard. The blue stuff claims to be buddlea but I'm not entirely convinced. It adds a bit of variety to the foliage, though. Another view of the 03 shunting. Geoff discovered that the cab light came on when he pressed the headlight button and decided to leave it on. Just for a change the three sober monks, but why are they ignoring the railbus? Last one for now, those County Durham colliery stalwarts the German well tank and the class P on shed. The cat on the van roof doesn't look at all interested. Must weather the van body. Les Edited October 31, 2018 by Les1952 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 The layout is all packed up ready to load into the car tomorrow to take to Mansfield. Team for the weekend is me both days, Tony Forward Saturday and Sunday, Geoff Warren on Saturday (and helping me set up tomorrow) with young Joe Hunt learning the layout on the job on Sunday. I've been tweaking the Kadee couplers a little and they seem to work more reliably but just in case I'm bringing every item of stock AND the coupler pliers.... In practice the B4 and the Glaskastern both shunted the screens faultlessly. Perhaps on Sunday afternoon (or earlier if Joe discovers the Glaskastern is sound-fitted). Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 A couple of pics from Today's Mansfield show to upload later when RMWeb's uploader is accepting jpegs. Herewith a short vid taken late in the afternoon while I had the colliery diesels off for servicing, Everything running well, though quite a lot of time spent tweaking Kadee couplers so they actually work. Tony in particular seemed to find plenty that didn't want to play with him. Les 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 At last- 15 minutes wait for the file not to load so I closed the browser and started again. This time it loaded first time. The non combatants at Mansfield show. The front siding still isn't accessible so it is filled with the brass kits that look pretty but haven't any Kadee couplings. Smelly Nellie in the middle will be back in the box tomorrow as her ID clashes with Backworth WD no.4. She will have to gain her works number as a DCC ID before the layout goes out again. The only two major issues were both scenic- I put a pile of stuff behind the shed door and one or two locos won't run past it- big knife out tomorrow to chop that - and there was an alignment issue where fulls were pushed through the screens from the micro fiddle yard- sorted at the end of the show with a couple of pairs of pliers. Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 The layout is back on its stands again ready for Sleaford show on 1st June. Testing it has shown that I've wired one of the new sections in the wrong way round. I'll correct it tomorrow- I do love (not) soldering upside down under the layout but there isn't enough headroom to tilt it forward. Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 Sleaford show this weekend. Nice friendly show. The public voted for best layout in show. We came second out of 20 - not bad for a five foot layout.... Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted July 8, 2019 Author Share Posted July 8, 2019 (edited) Another "new" loco Actually a very old loco- a Dapol J94 of the rare Cromford & High Peak version- low bunker with the cab rear windows off the high bunker version. It has been sitting in pieces for well over three years as I injured my wrist just after I'd dismantled it so didn't get the bottom of the tank weight cut off to make room for the chip. I finished the job and reassembled it today and with a decent amount of lubrication it actually runs smoothly. Next is to sand down the tank sides and paint it grot. The blue showing is the livery it was acquired in countless years ago- it was looking forlorn at a swapmeet in a year beginning with a 1.... It hasn't really done much since. I'm not sure whether to do it up as BR 68034, which was unusual for a Cromford J94 in never getting a late crest and always having the number on the bunker. It will join the colliery fleet whatever I decide. There is a real new loco- I couldn't resist a brown B4 to go with the light green one. OTOH I might prune a couple of locos that run well but don't like the layout partly to fund the new layout (which still doesn't have an identity or even a scale decide. NP will be out again later in the year at the Sleaford charity show, then assuming Sam Porter hasn't forgotten me Doncaster in the new year. Les Edited July 8, 2019 by Les1952 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 The "new" WD is well on its way to being ready. The NCB plates came from a pack that accompanied a brassmasters kit, and I decided that it would take the identity 48, the one loco at the end at Backworth that DIDN'T get preserved. The cab back is wrong but who (other than me) is going to notice? Still to do - the wheels need toning down and the bunker needs dirtying now I've got it numbered. It had a long run on the club layout and is now running very well and responsive to the controller. If anything it is a better runner than some of the Hornby and DJM locos that are a sight newer (though significantly noisier than the DJM....) Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) Not a lot happening but some movement on the loco front. Gone is the J50, which just didn't like the turn left into the running line. The Q6 is up for sale. Arrived is the Hornby Ryhope Peckett, it appeared already DCC fitted, but its whistle was broken off and not in the box. I have a spare brass whistle and it will be placed on the cab front. It has now got Kadee coupler fitted in place of the Tension locks. Weathering will take place in due course once I find a prototype picture to give some idea of how dirty it is to be. If its trackholding is OK it will join the colliery fleet rather than the preserved fleet. Next outing for the layout is Doncaster in February. Edited November 12, 2019 by Les1952 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) I'm getting impatient to get started on the new layout and one of the existing three has to go to make room for it. NO PLACE has no shows after Doncaster so I'm going to sound people out there about how saleable they think the layout is before taking a decision. In a way it would yield the most cash for the new layout as none of the stock is shared with anything else. It would also allow me to start building this year rather than next. No decisions yet- Hawthorn Dene is still on the cards for sale at or after Spalding show in November. By the end of the year I could be exhibiting one layout and building one, with some room to move in the workshop.... Les Edited January 7, 2020 by Les1952 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 11, 2020 Author Share Posted January 11, 2020 NO PLACE reprieved- It has another booking at the end of August (Loughborough once I get the paperwork sent back). I'm busy refurbishing all three layouts for shows up until then, so can't make a start on Bregenbach even if there were space in the shed. Meanwhile I'll continue to cull inappropriate and overstocked locos and wagons from all my fleets- two unused wagons and three kits have gone onto eBay with the Sentinel diesel. Other locos will go after Doncaster. Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Some new pics The layout is back on its stands getting prepared for Doncaster. Each loco is getting a service and a bit of running in. I'm trying to get them sorted into two distinct fleets - the colliery and the preservation fleets. So far the colliery has all the Hornby and Dapol WD saddletanks plus the Hornby Peckett 0-4-0s and the 13xx. The Preservation fleet has all of the DJM WD saddletanks and the Hornby Peckett 0-6-0ST and the USATC. The green B4 and the class P can be loaned to the colliery. The Ruston 88DS will sit in the shed as it is too light to run reliably on the industrial track. There is still a box that I've not yet looked at. The wagons are still to have their couplings adjusted. Tony and Joe are the two operators for Doncaster and I've got to get the Kdees sorted so they work for Joe and I but give Tony problems otherwise he'll have nothing to complain about. Meanwhile I've been trying to do Colin Gifford type pics and mostly failing abysmally- here are three of the less worse ones... Classic foliage in front in focus with a train of some description lurking in the background. Hedgehog in focus with railway yard behind that should be disturbing it. Hang on a moment- shouldn't the hedgehog be hibernating as it is January or is this what they mean by global warming? A more traditional view of RESPITE shunting a far-too-clean wooden hopper wagon. More to follow as I get more locos ready. les 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 The Ryhope Peckett now has its Ryhope Colliery Number of 2, and a new NER brass whistle. It will stay clean as it doesn't like the colliery - it stays on the track beautifully but the back-to-back is a little small and it loses pickup by slogging a little. This one will be in the passenger fleet. The second B2, Caen has been given a spell on the colliery and performs shunting beautifully. I'm in two minds whether to weather it and place it in the colliery fleet full time. All I need is to find a driver each for the two B4s. Kildale also performs faultlessly in the colliery, so I've made a start on weathering it as a permanent colliery loco. The general idea is that clean locos will stay on passenger duties at the front of the layout and dirty ones will mostly be shunting the colliery. Les 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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